


Take These Words And Try To Understand

by cumberhardhiddlesbitch



Series: The Rhombus 'Verse [27]
Category: British Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Polyamory, Relationship Discussions, telling the parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cumberhardhiddlesbitch/pseuds/cumberhardhiddlesbitch
Summary: Ben tells his parents about his new relationship with Shannon.
Relationships: Benedict Cumberbatch/Original Female Character(s), Benedict Cumberbatch/Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch/Tom Hardy/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Rhombus 'Verse [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/715134
Kudos: 6





	Take These Words And Try To Understand

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song "Read Between The Minds" by Jack Savoretti.

Ben sighed deeply as he shut off his car. Pulling up outside his parents' house was usually something he did without much thought, but this time he would admit to some nerves. He wasn't scared, he knew his parents would almost certainly welcome the news he was bringing to them, but that didn't make it any easier to tell them he was now in a triad. His father had always had a bit of an issue with the whole open relationship thing, unable to wrap his head round not committing to a partner and settling down for the long haul as he and Wanda had done, and Ben fully expected yet another conversation based upon that very thing at some point this afternoon.

He got out of the car, clicked the locks, and bounded up to the door, tapping the knocker. A few moments later, his mother opened the door and grinned at him.

"Hello, darling," she said, tipping her cheek up for a kiss that he gave with a smile of his own.

"Hiya, Mum," he said after, waiting for her to step back so he could come in the house.

"Go on through to the solarium, Ben, your father is in there. I'll be just a moment."

Nodding, he wandered through the reception rooms and then out to the solarium where his father was sitting at the table. "Dad," he said, smiling.

"Ben, hello!" Timothy greeted, enthusiastic, standing up from his chair and holding out his arms.

They hugged, then Ben poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher in the center of the table. "How's the job going?"

"Very well, thank you. Only two more days to go next week until we wrap. I'm more than ready, I must say. I'm not a particular fan of Rye’s, but at least he's not driven me completely round the twist this time."

They'd always shared a certain candour between them--an acting family two generations deep--and Ben chuckled at his father's words. Truthfully, most of the actors they knew shared the same opinion of that particular director, and Ben was glad it was his father who was suffering through and not him. 

Wanda came in with a loaded tea tray a moment later.

"Oh, Mum, you needn't have troubled yourself!"

"I wanted to, and I'm allowed to spoil my son a bit every now and again." She set the tray on the table.

"Thank you," Ben said, his smile lopsided as he reached for a cucumber sandwich. When she offered him a cup a moment later, he took it, grateful to have something to with his hands during the upcoming conversation.

"Your mum says you have some news for us?" Timothy's eyebrows were raised in curiousity.

"Yes, I--" He swallowed quickly, took a deep breath, and released it. "I have a girlfriend."

"Oh, Ben!" Wanda exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement as Timothy grinned widely and said, "Wonderful news, son, wonderful!"

"Is it Shannon?" Wanda asked, and though she tried to hide it, Ben could tell that she was hopeful it was.

"It is," he replied, shaking his head and trying not to let his own laughter bubble out as his mother did the equivalent of a fist pump.

"I knew it! I knew when I met her at hospital that she'd be someone special in your life."

"Mum, please, you had no idea."

"No, I did, though, Benedict. She came to check on you for Tom and ended up bathing you before you left. Someone who didn't give a damn wouldn't have helped you as she did."

"We were barely past making civil conversation then, because I’d been a massive prick."

"What's all this, then?" Timothy asked.

"Dad, you know I've been seeing Tom for the past few years." At his father's nod he went on, "He met Shannon last year and we'd been sharing Tom ever since, but I spent the first months angry and bitter that she was even in the picture. When he brought her to meet me, I behaved abominably, and when I think back on what an utter pillock I was, I can't even believe that she not only gave me another chance, but then offered me her heart, too."

"So, she's both your and Tom's girlfriend?"

"Yes, Dad, the three of us are all together. We're not going public just yet, but we will eventually."

"And you're thinking of settling down with them?"

He couldn't keep his father's hopeful gaze, and looked down at the table for a moment before looking back up at Timothy. “Dad, settling down for us isn't ever going to be the same as for you and Mum. I know you aren't very comfortable with aspects of how I live my life, but you have to understand, we're all three of us together in a way that makes sense for us, and that won't ever match up to what you hope."

"Two people isn't enough?"

"Timothy," Wanda broke in, trying to defuse the simmering argument.

"No, Mum, that deserves an answer. Here it is, Dad - right now they are. We aren't looking for other people as we're rather content at the moment with just us three; however, that doesn't mean we won't meet someone down the road. We're open to explore that option is all."

Timothy sighed heavily, then nodded, seeming to let it go for now. "How did Tom meet her? What does she do?"

"Her name is Shannon Jolicoeur, and she’s an artist. Mostly oil paintings, but other forms as well sometimes. She's rather talented, and I'm not just saying that because she's my partner now, either. She's made her own way in a very insular group."

"Well, it certainly sounds like she has the stones to take you on, at any rate," Timothy said, smirking.

"Oh, does she," Ben said, his own smirk widening to a mischievous grin. "She's brilliant, Dad. Mum thought so when they met, too. I can't wait until you meet her."

"When will you bring her, and for what meal?" Wanda asked, automatically gesturing at the sandwiches so he'd take another.

"Probably tea or brunch at the weekend. It’s rather difficult to get all three of us in the same place, same time at the moment. Fortunately, Tom doesn't have to come, which makes it easier. Hang on a tick." He reached for his mobile, pulling up the calendar function. "We've instituted interactive scheduling so everyone knows where we all need to be." 

"Is it really that hard?" Timothy asked. "I could see you and Tom possibly having conflicts, but if she's an artist..."

"It is that hard," Ben said, trying not to be irritated with his father since he’d said the same thing back when Tom was trying to find a time for Ben and Shannon to meet. "She does her own art, but she's also a curator of repute both here and on the Continent. She does more travelling than you'd think. I was certainly taken aback when I realized just how much she was away. Look here," he said, showing his father the calendar. "Tom is red, Shannon is blue, and I'm green."

Timothy's eyebrows rose at the volume of colour on the calendar.

"Exactly," Ben said, nodding once as he turned the phone back to face him. "Now then, let's see when we can get this done." Seeing he and Shannon both had Sunday morning open, he booked it in knowing she’d rather get it done than have it hang over her head for weeks. "If you're both free this Sunday morning we can make that. Otherwise we're looking out a couple of weeks."

"She'll be all right with doing this on two days notice?" Wanda asked, her own eyebrows raising.

"God, yes. She'll want to get it over with, trust me."

His phone buzzed with an incoming text, and he laughed as he read it. _Is it weird that I love you for doing this quickly? Waiting to meet families is so painful._ “See?" he said, still grinning.

"I do look forward to meeting her," Timothy said. "She sounds feisty."

"Mm, she absolutely can be."

"What should I make? What does she eat?"

"She's not on any sort of alternative or restrictive diet," he said, reaching for another sandwich. "Make what you'd normally make for a Sunday meal and it'll be fine."

"Thank you, Benedict, that was so very helpful," Wanda said, sighing. 

"What? She's easy to please, really. Which is possibly a bit strange considering she's trained in food."

"She's a chef? Oh my lord, Ben, and you thought that was a good thing to tell me right before I have to present a meal to her?"

"It's not as though she's going to grade your performance, Mum, all right? Would it be better if you and Dad come to mine on Sunday? She can make the meal if you'd rather."

"No, no, I'll think of something to put out, I'm sure. Let's just plan for ten, is that good?"

"It's great. I’m always happy to have a bit of a lie-in."

"Not 'we'?" Timothy asked.

"God no, she'll have been up and back from a five mile run by then."

"You don't run with her?"

"Sometimes, when she doesn’t do it at the crack of dawn."

"Does she live on her own or...?"

"Right now she's flat sharing with two other women, but I wouldn't be surprised if she moved in with Tom now we're all together. It makes sense to have one central place." 

"Two flatmates? I suppose they must know about you and Tom?" Wanda asked.

"She's actually only close with one of them, who does know about both Tom and I. The other only knows about Tom, and I doubt that'll change. I mean, she's nice enough, just not as close to Shannon as Max. I don't yet know any of her friends as well as Tom does, but they've been nothing but welcoming to me. After the threats, I mean. They're very protective of her. Tom told me he got threatened, too. It feels special, somehow." 

"What? Getting threatened by the friends of your girlfriend?" Tim said.

"I just meant that she has people around her who care very much and are extremely protective of her; people who didn't care who we were, even though they were fans of roles we'd played. Well. They were probably a bit excited when they found out, but they've not taken advantage of her knowing and being with us to be flash or get attention. They're trustworthy as far as Tom and I are concerned because there's nothing they could do that wouldn't hurt Shannon as well. 

"Besides," he continued on, "we will go public eventually, and then it will all be moot. We're just giving ourselves time to settle into our new relationships."

"Do you think this might hurt your career at all?" Timothy asked, and Ben could tell he really was worried.

"I don't know why it should, me having a boyfriend and girlfriend at the same time has no bearing on my ability to do my job." 

"It matters, though," Timothy replied.

Sighing, Ben turned the cup in his hands. "There could be a possibility I don’t get offered a role in future because someone doesn’t agree with what I do in my private life, but that is their problem, not mine. I love performing and I want to be able to do it for a long time to come, but I won't give Shannon and Tom up. If anyone ever issues an ultimatum over a role, they can fuck right off."

“That’s rather easy to say sitting here, but I expect it would be significantly harder should it actually happen,” Timothy pointed out.

“Listen, Dad, I know you’re worried about me and my future, and I want you to know I do appreciate that, but I’ve done good work across stage and screen, and if I’m a jobbing actor the rest of my life because I love whom I love, then so be it. I get off easier anyway because of my gender. If Shannon were the actor, she’d be utterly fucked because of our situation.”

“Will it affect her when you go public, do you think?” Wanda asked even as she cringed at Ben’s continued crude language. He’d have to watch that from here on.

“I imagine she may get some commissions out of it, but overall, no, I don’t think it will make much of a difference. She’s not unknown and she does excellent work. She and Tom met at one of her shows.”

“Did they?” Timothy said, grinning.

“They did, and Tom purchased one of her paintings being shown that night. He’d bought it before they met, though.” 

“So this is the same young lady you met whilst picking Ben up from hospital, darling?” Timothy said, turning to Wanda.

“Yes, the poor dear. She made the best of an awkward situation, though. Quick on her feet, I’d say.”

“She is that,” Ben agreed, nodding. “Quick and adaptable. She thought you might’ve had it in for her because of our discordant beginnings.”

“Oh no! I hope you disabused her of that notion!”

“Of course I did! I couldn’t have her thinking you hadn’t seen past my ridiculous behavior at that time.”

“Did she believe it?” Timothy asked.

“Mum helped her own case by not snubbing her in any way, so, yeah, she did.”

“I wouldn’t have, regardless. It was rather obvious she’d been helping you and you’d never have allowed someone you didn’t trust in some measure to see you so vulnerable.”

“That’s true, as it happened after she and I pulled our heads out of our arses and realised we might actually be friends if we made an effort. We were still feeling our way around each other, but on the right path, and I did feel as though I could trust her. Not to the same degree I do now, of course, but enough that I would allow her to see me like that were she amenable to helping.” 

Wanda clapped her hands together again, smiling widely. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you’re together now!”

“Me, too, Mum. It’s been a long time coming and it’s been absolute ages since I’ve been so happy.”

“Not since the early days with Olivia,” Timothy said.

“Quite so. Liv and I weren’t happy together at all at the end. She deserved better than I was capable of giving at the time.”

“Oh, I rather think that went both ways, Ben,” Wanda said. 

Ben shrugged. He couldn’t correct her without bringing up things his parents did not need to know about him; couldn’t exactly say that Olivia had acted out in response to his needing things she couldn’t or didn’t want to provide for him or the way he’d set her aside at times--however temporarily--because of it. “The point is, we weren’t right for each other but it took us too long to come to that realisation. Shannon and I _are_ good for each other. We’re good together, and even better with Tom.”

“All right, well, you’re the one in the relationship, so we’ll trust you on that,” Timothy said, putting his hands up as if to ward off any further details.

Chuckling, Ben poured himself a little more water. “Don’t worry, Dad, I wasn’t going to overshare, I was simply illustrating that I can tell a difference between the relationships.”

“You’re also older and more established in your celebrity,” Timothy replied. 

Wanda nodded. “That couldn’t have been easy just on its own, and then you added open relationships to the mix. I mean, Shannon came into a situation that was fairly settled when you think on it.”

“Mmm, well, it’s true that I have more of an idea as to what’s out there and what I want for myself.” He thought about fumbling through wanting and later needing the BDSM aspects and how he’d gone about trying to reconcile that within the parameters of his changing life, then mentally shook himself. “Anyway, Sunday brunch, here at ten with my girlfriend.”

“I’m so pleased that you’re now with someone you feel confident in bringing home,” Timothy said, smiling. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has, but she’s very much worth the wait, you’ll see.”

“Do you have to run, darling?” Wanda asked.

“No, I’ve the afternoon to myself, but I didn’t know whether you two already had plans or not.”

“We’ve got a documentary on the history of Wimbledon we were going to watch. Interested?”

“Absolutely,” Ben said, grinning as he reached for another cucumber sandwich.

**Author's Note:**

> Find us [here](https://cumberhardhiddlesbitch.tumblr.com/) over at tumblr and say hey or ask questions or just look at our pretty, pretty boys.


End file.
